


A Chance Encounter

by Zeriphi



Series: Nina goes to live with the Bandicoots [1]
Category: Crash Bandicoot (Video Games)
Genre: But this is not compliant with the canon of twinsanity, Crash mentioned, F/F, NCortex mentioned, References to Canon Child Abuse, The nina in this is based more on Twinsanity Nina, idk - Freeform, it is what it is, this fan fiction is very anti Neo cortex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:42:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27275131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeriphi/pseuds/Zeriphi
Summary: Nina steals one of her uncle's hoverboards and runs away to NSanity island. There she finally meets the ferocious dangerous failed mutants her uncle had warned her about for so long.
Relationships: Coco Bandicoot/Nina Cortex
Series: Nina goes to live with the Bandicoots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028514
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	A Chance Encounter

Nina knew she wasn’t supposed to be on N.Sanity island, but at the end of the day, her uncle couldn’t watch her every second of every day, especially not when he didn’t particularly show much interest in her to begin with. Indeed, her uncle was often too caught up in his own destined-to-fail projects to even give her so much as a glance. So, she had figured he wouldn’t notice if she borrowed a hoverboard and went over to the much _nicer_ island to explore… Of course, when she had that idea, she hadn’t considered the possibility of crashing said hoverboard, and not being entirely sure how to fix it.

_Shoot…_ Nina thought to herself. _I’m really gonna get it now…_ Of course, her “getting it” was very dependent on her uncle ever noticing her absence. She shook her head. _Bah, he’s gonna notice this board’s missing first…. I wonder if he’d even consider that something worth looking for…_ Nina decided she didn’t want to take that chance and resolved herself to trying to fix the board herself. She briefly considered the fact that it probably wasn’t a good thing that her primary reason for wanting to fix the board was so her uncle didn’t get mad at her for breaking it, rather than her needing it to later return to Cortex Castle- but she quickly pushed that moment of self-reflection out of her head.

Outwardly, the board showed little damage other than a few scratches and paint damage, but, after Nina had crash-landed it onto the shore, obviously something had gotten knocked loose inside it, resulting in it now refusing to start up, and making awful whirring sounds. Nina groaned.

“Lovely…” she said to herself. She flipped it over to find that her access to the inner workings of the board was being blocked by tiny screws. “Oh, of COURSE-“ Nina clenched her robotic fists and screamed allowed in frustration. There was almost no scenario in which her uncle's robotic adjustments to her hands had turned out to actually benefit her. Still, at the age of 13, she was not entirely used to them to the point of still frequently breaking things when trying to hold them, and of course, they were too bulky to have a chance of dealing with something like small screws holding a panel down. She sighed and attempted to emotionally pull herself back together.

_Maybe in the woods, I can find something that I can use as a screwdriver…. Some loose scrap metal or a pointy rock or something…_ She thought. Nina stood and started making her way into the woods, leaving the board just far enough into shore to avoid the lapping waves of the ocean.

* * *

The woods presented an unfamiliar scenery to Nina. Most of the vegetation from her own island was dead from the waste, and the rest of the island being used for development and experimentation. N.Sanity was lush and green, full of life. She’d love to spend more time just taking it in- but that would have to wait until she found a way to fix that board and spare herself from her uncle's wrath. She shuttered thinking about what he might do to her if he found out she’d taken and broken it- he probably wouldn’t even care that she left, just that she broke something of his. What would he do to her this time for this? Maybe he’d take her legs and give her robotic ones he could remove when he didn’t want her to go anywhere, effectively trapping her in that castle forever. Nina shuttered at the thought of the possibility- she needed to fix that board. NOW.

But then- she heard something approaching. She stopped dead.

Her uncle had warned her about what could be found on this island; his failed experiments. Rabid, merciless creatures, who’d tear her limb from limb if they came across her- of course, she had convinced herself that was a lie when she had taken that board and made her way over to the island- but now she was starting to reconsider that. But, as she readied herself for a fight, a small, bipedal, furry orange creature with long blonde hair in a ponytail, and pointy orange ears, dressed in denim overalls and a white t-shirt. The creature stopped in front of Nina, wide-eyed and surprised. Though Nina was surprised by the creature’s more docile appearance- she remained on guard.

“Oh- I haven’t seen you before.” The creature spoke in a young, feminine voice. “Are you who I heard screaming?” Nina said nothing, after all, the creature could just be trying to get her to drop her guard so it could have a clear shot for her vitals. It seemed to notice she was nervous. “Hey… It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you as long as you’re not going to hurt me!” The creature held it’s hands up, showing it had no weapons. In fact, its hands didn’t even look clawed. They looked soft and furry. Nina was beginning to rethink her initial judgement. The creature held a hand out

“My name is Coco, what’s your name?” Ah yes, the handshake. Nina knew better than to engage in such an activity. Of course, she had learnt that the hard way. So, instead of accepting the creature- er- Coco’s friendly gesture, Nina simply lowered her fists, and (slightly) softened her expression.

“… Nina.” She said. She looked at Coco’s outreached hand, then back at Coco’s face, trying to make it clear she wasn’t going to shake her hand. Coco seemed concerned but took her hand back.

“Are you lost, Nina?” Coco asked. “I thought I heard a scream, was that you?” Nina’s eyes flashed left and right, trying to find something that would suggest she’s about to be ambushed. She found nothing.

“… I come here on a hoverboard, but it broke. I need to fix it.” Was all Nina responded with. Coco lit up.

“Oh! Well it’s great you ran into me then! I happen to be quite a mechanic!” She exclaimed. “Hey! Let me go get my toolbox then I can come fix it for you!” Nina was quiet, considering this new option presented to her. Mentally, she concluded that Coco did not seem abundantly dangerous (in fact, she seemed to be the same age as Nina) and decided it might be her best option for avoiding the wrath of her uncle Cortex.

“… Sure.” Nina said.

“Great! Come with me, let’s go get my toolbox!” Coco beamed. Excitedly, Coco grabbed one of Nina’s hands, she seemed to pause, only for a second, as she realized Nina’s hands were made of metal, before she continued as though she hadn’t noticed, starting to pull Nina along as she ran back to her house. Nina was surprised but made sure not to grip back, as not to crush Coco’s hand.

Coco’s home was only a short distance from where they met. It was located on a clearing outside of the woods, overlooking another beach. Rough furniture was scattered in front of the small house, including a patched up couch, and an old-looking TV. On the couch, laid a second furry orange creature, this one wearing nothing but jean shorts and red velcro shoes. It was fast asleep. Nina decided she would be very happy if it *stayed* asleep while she was there. 

“Just wait for a second while I go find my toolbox!” Coco told Nina, before dashing into the house, leaving the door open. Nina looked around more. Nothing she saw matched her mental image of how she would have thought the supposedly “merciless” failed mutants her uncle had made would live. Had that all been a lie? Or were there different, rabid merciless mutants that also lived on NStanity Island. Granted, it wouldn’t be the first (or last) time her uncle had lied to her. “Found it!” Coco called, as she ran out of the house, now with a pink toolbox. She stopped in front of Nina again. “Okay! Show me to where you left your hoverboard!”

* * *

Nina watched as Coco worked on the hoverboard. She almost felt jealous of Coco’s smaller fingers and general aptitude with technology.

“There’s nothing too major wrong with it,” Coco explained. “Just some circuits loose after the impact. Nothing I can’t fix.”

“That’s good.” Nina murmured.

“You know, I don’t get to see a lot of girls my age.” Coco started. “Or any, really… So this is pretty nice!” Nina blushed slightly at Coco’s words.

“It’s okay… I don’t see a lot of other girls either.” She said.

“Where’d you come from?” Coco asked. Nina did not respond. “… That’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I live on the mainland.” Nina lied. “With my… Aunt.”

“Oh wow!” Coco exclaimed. “You came pretty far then! Your aunt must be worried about you!”

“No, she isn’t.” Nina interrupted. “She doesn’t actually care about me. I’m just another thing for her to control.” Coco hesitated.

“Well I’m sure that’s not true, if she’s your family-“ She started.

“If my aunt cared about family she wouldn’t do the things she’s done to me.” Nina unconsciously moved her robotic fingers. Coco took notice.

“… Is your aunt why your hands are like that…?” Coco asked. Nina said nothing. Of course her “”aunt”” was why she had metal hands. That wasn’t anyone else business though. Coco took the hint.

“Sorry. That was too personal…” Coco continued working on the board. After a few minutes passed, she spoke again.

“I think your hands are really cool, by the way.” She said. Nina’s eyes widened. Most people were horrified by her robotic features, terrified she’d use them to hurt them.

“Really?” She asked.

“Yeah!” Coco exclaimed. “They’re like, crazy cool! I’d love to take a look at them some time if you’d let me.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea…” Nina admitted. “I have a bad habit of crushing anything in my hands…”

“So you can’t feel anything with them?” Coco asked. Nina nodded. “Well, maybe I could work on something so you could feel with them again!”

“Is that even possible?” Nina asked.

“I’ve been reading some research on the subject- science is really close to figuring it out! I mean, if the humans have gotten this far with it- how hard could it be to make it the rest of the way?” Coco asked, then reconsidering what she had just said. “Oh. No offence.” Nina laughed.

“That’s okay.” Coco smiled, content in having have brought Nina some amount of happiness.

“You know- even if the science isn’t totally there yet- I bet I could find a way to give your joints a bit more resistance so it’s harder for you to crush things by accident,” Coco suggested.

“That could be pretty useful,” Nina admitted. Then she remembered her uncle would probably notice if anyone had been making adjustments to her hands. “… No. He- er- she wouldn’t be very happy about that.” Coco frowned.

“Were you trying to run away from home when you came here?” She asked. Nina’s eyes widened. Had she? She wasn’t entirely sure. She had told herself she was just going to go explore the neighbouring island, but truthfully, she didn’t really want to go back. There was nothing for her there but her uncle who expected her to be just as cruel as he was.

“… I honestly don’t know.” She replied.

“It really doesn’t sound like you have it very good back with your aunt,” Coco said. “You know, me and my brother don’t really have family besides each other. I mean- there’s this magic mask who’s like our Dad-“ _Oh, someone like Uka Uka._ Nina thought. “But the guy who actually created us wants us dead. Heck, we’re only both alive right now because we got really lucky the first time when he was trying to dispose of us and got away.” It didn’t take Nina very long to realize that Coco was talking about NCortex.

“He sounds like a horrible cruel man,” Nina said. Coco shrugged.

“I mean yeah- but he’s pretty stupid so we can deal with him pretty easily,” Coco said. She then shut the panel of the hoverboard and began twisting the screws back in. “Well, your board is good to go whenever!” She declared.

“Really? Already” Nina asked. Coco nodded.

“I told you it wasn’t anything serious!” Coco flipped the switch on it, bring it to life and proving that it worked again. Coco seemed a bit disappointed, despite having have accomplished what she came to do. “… So uh, I suppose you’re gonna want to head back to the mainland now…” She said. Nina thought about it. Realistically she probably should head back to Cortex Castle. But… She really didn’t want to. Despite their short time together, Nina found herself enjoying Coco’s company, not to mention she really didn’t want to go back to her uncle again. She thought more about what Coco had said about her uncle- how they didn’t think he was really too much of a threat because they could deal with him fairly easily…

“… You know what…” Nina turned off the hoverboard. “Would you or your brother mind if I stayed here for a bit?” Coco’s face lit up.

“Oh for sure! You can stay here as long as you want! My brother won’t mind- for him it just means we get a player 3 for Mario Kart night!”

“I’m pretty sure I’ll break any sort of video game controller-“

“Eh, we can reinforce one for you- But yeah you can stay here if that’s what you want!” Nina picked up the hoverboard, holding it with both hands in front of her.

“I don’t know how long I’ll stay…. I don’t want to be trouble or anything.”

“Nah I’m sure you won’t be any trouble at all!” Coco assured her. Nina smiled.

“Okay- but it’ll only be until I figure out what I want to do next.”

With that, Nina followed Coco back to her house, pushing out of her mind the impending threat of her uncle. After all- according to Coco he wasn’t even really a threat. He couldn’t get her here after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd been itching to write some Coco/Nina- plus in general just something where Nina finds a way to switch sides. I might write more based on this. Maybe a little more explicitly shippy. IDK.  
> Before I get shit for the NCortex bad stuff- Ya'll realize he *did* canonistically cut Nina's hands off because she was too nice- right?Like if you like him as a character whatever but you can't really defend that and still claim he's a great loving parent figure to Nina.  
> Anyways hope you enjoyed this and let me know if you'd like a follow up of some kind. Thanks!


End file.
